The present invention generally relates to kettles for boiling liquids, and, more particularly, to a mechanism for opening and closing kettle spouts.
Kettles are well-known cooking vessels for boiling water, making tea or the like. The vessels commonly have a hollow body defining a reservoir chamber, a spout of some sort to pour liquid from the reservoir chamber, a cover covering the spout, a mechanism to open and close the spout cover, a handle of some shape so that the user can pour the liquid from the kettle and a separate refilling opening in the top of the body closed by a removable lid. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,881 to Jepson describes such a model. The tea kettle of the Jepson ""881 patent features a mechanism whereby the user can depress a plunger and operate the spout cover. Unfortunately, the mechanism of the Jepson ""881 patent locates the plunger near the spout. Such an arrangement is undesirable in that the user""s hand could potentially be exposed to steam or hot water.
Some inventions attempted to solve this dilemma by moving the trigger for controlling the spout cover further away from the cover. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,616 to Stowell et al. illustrates a cover mechanism with a trigger further up on the handle of the kettle. While this arrangement decreases the chances of scalding, it does not provide the user much control over the raising and lowering of the spout cover because of the placement of the trigger that manipulates the cover. More specifically, the Stowell ""616 patent positions the trigger beneath the handle and the user pulls the trigger back away from the spout to open the cover. As a result, a user is required to grab the handle and uncomfortably lift and pour the liquid from the kettle while, at the same time, pulling on the trigger in a direction opposite the weight of gravity to open the cover. Moreover, the Stowell ""616 patent does not provide any means to modulate the cover opening. Instead, the Stowell ""616 patent describes a cover hingedly attached to the spout which allows for movement solely in the fully open or fully closed positions. As such, the user has very little control over the breadth of the opening of the cover and, therefore, the amount of liquid flowing from the kettle.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,959 to Naden et al. illustrates a kettle with a handle, which is used to open and close the kettle cover. This design also protects the user from the scalding because the handle is at a distance from the spout cover, but the design, similar to the Stowell ""616 patent, does not provide the user with much control or manageability of the opening. Specifically, the Naden ""959 patent describes a handle attached to a leaf spring whereby the user grasps the handle itself and pulls it toward himself or herself while holding the kettle in the other hand. This arrangement requires the user to use his or her entire hand to manipulate the handle to move the cover into the open or closed position. This awkward motion decreases the user""s ability to balance the kettle properly, which leads to over or under pouring. Furthermore, systems that primarily rely on a spring-loaded mechanism, like the one in the Naden ""959 patent, to both open and close the cover, lack an accurate means to regulate the breadth of the opening of the cover. As such, use of this type of mechanism also leads to over or under pouring. Moreover, such heavy reliance on the spring as the primary mechanism to operate the cover in both directions leads to the spring becoming distended and dysfunctional after prolonged use of the kettle. Such an occurrence prevents proper closure of the cover, which in turn, leads to heat loss and a decrease in the thermal efficiency of the kettle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a kettle with an improved opening mechanism that offers the user increased protection from steam and hot liquids.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a kettle with an improved opening mechanism that enables the spout cover to be locked in the open position.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a kettle with an improved opening mechanism that provides an expedient closure of the cover.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a kettle with an improved opening mechanism that is economical to manufacture.
The present invention is a kettle with an improved opening mechanism. In particular, the invention provides a kettle with a handle covered by an insulating material with a slot formed in the insulating material. Positioned within the slot is a trigger that a user can modulate to control the opening and closing of the kettle spout cover. The handle features a base portion wherein a slider channel and a tab channel are formed. The trigger is located on the second end or distal portion of a slider, which is positioned in the slider channel. On the first end or proximal portion of the slider is a toothed rack. In addition, the slider includes a hollowed area. This hollowed area opposes a notched area in the slider channel. A compression spring is positioned within the hollowed area and engages an end of the slider hollowed area and a spring engagement member defined by the notched area of the slider channel to limit travel of the slider and urge the slider towards a position whereby the cover of the kettle is closed.
The toothed rack of the slider engages a ratchet tooth gear. The ratchet tooth gear is attached to a tab that extends from a ring encircling the spout cover or whistle of the kettle. The tab sits in the tab channel of the handle. The tab is pivotally connected to the handle so that the ratchet tooth gear rotates about an axis whereby the whistle may be raised or lowered. As the user applies pressure to the trigger, the toothed rack and the ratchet tooth gear operate so that the user can easily and safely open the whistle. Moreover, as the user applies such pressure, the compression spring of the slider compresses. An open cover stop automatically locks the whistle into the open position. The force of the uncoiling of the compression spring quickly, efficiently and firmly closes the cover when the trigger and stop are released.